Learn how labs are using the Lumea BxChip® to save lab time, increase efficiency, reduce costs, and improve quality for potentially better diagnostic accuracy. Two recent articles praise the BxChip for its ability to help labs increase efficiency and enhance the quality of tissue. These two things provide a pathologist with the tools to diagnose cancer patients more accurately. In fact, the two histopathology labs enjoyed significant operational efficiency gains with this tech.
Time Savings, Cost Savings, Better Diagnostic Material
The first article, published in the American Journal of Clinical Pathology, a lab at the University of Minnesota tested the chip. They reported incredible time savings, cost savings, and better diagnostic material. In their article, the authors show how they dramatically reduced the amount of time and number of consumables necessary to process 48 prostate biopsy specimens. Using the BxChip, they reduced histotechnologist time by 75 percent. They also reduced the number of materials like glass slides and blocks needed by at least a factor of 6.
The paper concludes: “Our study prospectively analyzed various sample processing and quality metrics between the standard histologic processing protocol and a multiplex method that eliminates tissue handling and allows simultaneous processing of prostate biopsy specimens. The latter not only reduced processing time, reading time, and cost but also allowed for potential improvement in diagnostic accuracy.” This improved accuracy is enabled by minimizing tissue loss and nonlinear fragmentation.
Improved Small Biopsy Handling
The second article praising the BxChip is from the National Society of Histopathology. The author, Siobhan Fairgreaves, writes about the challenges of handling small biopsy samples in a pathology lab. Challenges of small biopsy samples include over-fixation, tissue fragmentation, and tissue damage. Fairgreaves cites the BxChip as a solution to all three of those problems. “The Biopsy Chip is an innovative solution which seeks to eliminate a large proportion of the risk associated with manual handling of small biopsies.”
The article also states: “Research shows great promise for this device, particularly in minimizing non-linear fragmentation and specimen loss of these friable specimens. Intact core length is to greatly increased.” The benefit of a pathologist being able to observe much more of the tissue intact is they can better understand the features of the tumor. Finally, they remarked on how the reduction in laboratory time and required resources resulted in significant cost savings. For these reasons, they believed the BxChip was worth using in a lab.
Both publications demonstrate improved operational efficiency and diagnostic benefits. They also both talk about the advantage of visualizing more intact tissue.
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